2 weeks Ago By Carol Sanders
New Democrat MLAs defended Thursday the decision to expel outspoken colleague Mark Wasyliw from caucus. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * New Democrat MLAs defended Thursday the decision to expel outspoken colleague Mark Wasyliw from caucus. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? New Democrat MLAs defended Thursday the decision to expel outspoken colleague Mark Wasyliw from caucus.
Two said they’d heard him be disrespectful to colleagues and that he had raised his voice, while a third, who didn’t witness such behaviour, said he “wholeheartedly” supports the decision, which was revealed publicly in an NDP news release on Monday. “I’m not going to get into any mudslinging,” said cabinet minister Ian Bushie. “We’d been very cordial to each other.
At the same time, I can’t speak for everybody else,” he said at an unrelated news conference after the ethics commissioner ruled that Bushie had violated the conflict of interest law. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES MLA Mark Wasyliw was expelled from the NDP caucus, Monday. “I have seen various aspects since 2019 where he was a detriment to our team,” he said about Wasyliw.
Seine River MLA Billie Cross said she hadn’t been “subjected to Mark’s behaviour and comments” but had witnessed them. “As a member of this caucus leadership team, I have watched for the last year and been privy to what’s been going on in terms of Mark’s behaviour and actions. I’ve witnessed him abuse members of our leadership team and I use the word ‘abuse’ because when you raise your voice to someone who’s a colleague, that is abuse.
” Cross said she didn’t file a respectful workplace complaint because the caucus leadership team decided to instead work with Wasyliw and encourage him to be a better teammate. “We’re here to lift each other up. We’re here to support one another and not tear them down,” she said.
Mike Moroz said he hasn’t been a target of Wasyliw’s alleged verbal abuse but he has witnessed from him “a line of commentary that’s unbecoming of a member of the team.” Moroz, who’s a member of the leadership team that met with caucus Sunday, wouldn’t say how many MLAs had attended the meeting or whether the decision to oust Wasyliw was unanimous. “We had consensus in the room.
A full and vigorous conversation occurred about the topic, and we unquestionably had consensus,” Moroz said. Mike Moyes, the caucus chair, said he’s witnessed Wasyliw “disparage” others publicly. “Our problems with Mark stem from his relationships with people in caucus,” Moyes said Thursday.
The statement announcing the removal of Waysliw said: “The decision came after our caucus learned that MLA Wasyliw’s business partner is acting as Peter Nygard’s criminal defence lawyer...
MLA Wasyliw’s failure to demonstrate good judgment does not align with our caucus principles of mutual respect and trust. As such, MLA Wasyliw can no longer continue his role in our caucus.” Wasyliw fired back that he’s an associate of Wiebe and no longer her partner, that he has nothing to do with and will not benefit from the Nygard case, and that the NDP linking him to the defence of the convicted sex offender was a “pretext” for kicking him out of caucus.
He said Premier Wab Kinew wanted him gone. The NDP’s statement riled up legal associations that said the governing NDP had disparaged the role of criminal defence lawyers whose work is constitutionally mandated and part of a justice system that believes every accused is entitled to a defence. Wasyliw said Wednesday he’s heard from constituents who are upset and from party members who are tearing up their memberships.
“I’ve heard none of that,” said Cross. Some of the folks she represents in Seine River have asked about the decision to eject Wasyliw from caucus, she said. “I’ve had some constituents reach out just wanting a little bit more information, but nobody who’s ‘I’m not going to vote for you’ or ‘I’m going to rip up my membership.
’ People want transparency, of course.” Cross said the connection to the Nygard case was the “tipping point” for punting Wasyliw and that, as a woman in caucus, “it’s extremely hard to support a colleague who might benefit financially from representing a sexual predator.” Wednesdays A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom.
“It’s not OK for a member of our team to represent someone like that when our job as MLAs is to represent Manitobans and, as a woman, I represent women,” said Cross, noting that women are predominantly the targets of sex predators and violence. The MLA said she is Indigenous and that the province is dealing with the serial murders of Indigenous women and a landfill search for their remains. “At some point the government has to stand up and do the right thing,” Cross said.
“We’re role models.” Wasyliw’s connection to the Nygard defence was troubling, she said. “I really struggled with that part of what he was doing and to not disclose to us that he knew this was happening — there’s a trust factor.
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ca Carol Sanders is a reporter at the legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. .
Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the ‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about , and . Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism.
If you are not a paid reader, please consider . Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Carol Sanders is a reporter at the legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. .
Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the ‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about , and . Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism.
If you are not a paid reader, please consider . Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
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